Few days in, less confusion

Hey

First i need to clarify that any mispellings or mistakes that you read in this blog have nothing to do with my intillegence or inability to use the english language. simply the screen is so awful and fuzzy that i can´t really rad what i am writing. anyway, my life....



travel day went off without a hitch. all my flights were simple and we arrived in san salvador at about 630 am local time. So mike and i caught a cab from the airport and went into town. we didn´t know what was going on or where to go or anything, so we were going to have the cabbie bring us to an internet cafe (ok, i just switched computers so it should be better). But it was too early in the morning, so we asked him if there were any hostels around and so he took us to one. it turned out to be the peace corps hangout. so we booked the night, chilled with the volunteers for a little, took a nap, etc. we decided to try to go to the beach for the afternoon and so we went to where i remebered seeing the bus, but that didn´t really work and so we got some directions from a few dudes and ended up on a 5 bus trip around teh city. it was fun to be on the busses again, but no beach. so we bought a few things from the grocery store and started sitting on a bench right in front of the national cathedral. after a while, we started talking to some guy who was into politics, but was from the right. it was really interesting to hear his point of view and he was really cool. it made for a good argument but a very respectful one. and as in normal latin american hospitality if we need some place to crash, we now have one. once he left, we were fending off a drunk guy who kissed my hand in gratitude for nixon when a truck full of lucha libre wrestlers pulled up. one of them walked over and started talking to us in american english and he turned out to be a gringo from maryland. he gave us free tickets to the show. so then we went to a little of mass at a large, modern-ish catholic church just a few blocks from the cathedral. it was really beautiful, but once the sermon started, we realized that the acoustics were so echoy that we couldn´t understand anything and were starting to fall asleep, so we left for lucha libre. that was awesome. it started out kinda slow, but it got nuts. the last two fights were crazy. they broke the mat and so the final part, they were just running around the crowd hitting each other with chairs and throwing eachother into doors. it was great. then we got a ride back from the wrestling gringo (who was backpacking for 12 years and always loved it and so now works at a surf shop in MD and comes down in the winter to surf and fight). great first day.
monday morning we checked in with the organization and our hotel. we got our observation credentials. In my picture for mine, i was smiling too much the first time and had to do it mas serio. then we went back to the UCA, which was good. it was strange going again because i knew was to expect but at the same time, it was still very powerfull. then we had an orientation and we started to get to know the people that we are working with. CIS has representatives from all around the world and from lots of different walks of life. It has been really neat hearing all of the different perspectives on development and different ways that it is being done. I have met a guy who was working with human rights reparations in guatemala, a woman who has a masters in conflict resolution in sub sarahan africa and a couple of aussies who are just nuts (and lots more). it is really a great group of poeple, but i to all the CASPers, i do miss you guys more.
tuesday morning we had a meeting with a woman on polls that have been held to get a general feel for the political leanings of teh country (which is against ARENA and toward the FMLN). In the afternoon, we went to the embassy and got fed the same poo that we usually get fed there. then last night, richie and jeff came over and it was good to hear what they are up to (which is observing for the FMLN).
Today i am off to learn some about labor unions and women´s rights and then tomorrow is our big training day. friday afternoon i´ll be heading out to a town called Cojutapeque to begin preparing for actual elections and then will be back here on sunday night.
As for me, i am doing quite well. at first, it didn´t feel right. my spanish was rusty, it was hot, i was tired, but after talking with the guy in the park and lucha libre, i have felt much more comfortable. I have been blessed by the group that we are working with (it is strange because it is so multi-generational) and i fell good. so, please pray for a good election and pray that i keep rolling because this has been great so far.
lots of love